Michael Joseph Ready

{{Infobox Christian leader | type = | honorific_prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | name = Michael Joseph Ready | honorific_suffix = | title = Bishop of Columbus | image = Stars Shining in Ohio, 1803-1953 and forever - DPLA - e7d91ebd595488829b3b79f474bced13 (page 3).jpg | image_size = | caption = Bishop Ready in 1953 | church = Roman Catholic Church | archdiocese = | diocese = | see = Diocese of Columbus | elected =  | term = January 4, 1945 to<br>May 2, 1957 | predecessor = James Joseph Hartley | successor = Clarence George Issenmann | other_post =  | ordination = September 14, 1918 | ordained_by = John Farrelly | consecration = December 14, 1944 | consecrated_by = Archbishop Amleto Cicognani | birth_date = April 9, 1893 | birth_place = New Haven, Connecticut, US | death_date = {{Death date and age|1957|05|02|1893|04|09}} | death_place = Columbus, Ohio, US | buried =  | nationality =  | religion = | parents = | education = St. Vincent Seminary<br>St. Bernard Seminary<br>St. Mary Seminary | motto = ''Quae sunt Dei Deo''<br>(What are God's things to God) | signature = | coat_of_arms = }} {{infobox bishopstyles | name=Michael Ready | dipstyle=The Most Reverend | offstyle=Your Excellency | relstyle=Monsignor | deathstyle=none |}} '''Michael Joseph Ready''' (April 9, 1893 – May 2, 1957) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Columbus in Ohio from 1944 until his death.

==Biography==

=== Early life === The second youngest of 14 children, Michael Ready was born on April 9, 1893, in New Haven, Connecticut, to Michael T. and Mary A. (née Ellis) Ready.<ref name="diocese">{{cite news|work=Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus|title=The Bishops of Columbus|url=http://www.colsdioc.org/AboutUs/TheBishopsofColumbus/tabid/276/Default.aspx|access-date=2009-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090103082053/http://www.colsdioc.org/AboutUs/TheBishopsofColumbus/tabid/276/Default.aspx|archive-date=2009-01-03|url-status=dead}}</ref> His parents were Irish immigrants who immigrated to the United States in the 1880s.<ref name="diocese" /> In 1900, the Ready family relocated from Connecticut to Mansfield, Ohio, and later to Barberton, Ohio.<ref name="diocese" />

Ready studied at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, at St. Bernard Seminary in Rochester, New York, and at St. Mary Seminary in Cleveland, Ohio.<ref name="diocese" />

=== Priesthood === Ready was ordained to the priesthood in Cleveland for the Diocese of Cleveland by Bishop John Farrelly on September 14, 1918.<ref name="hierarchy">{{cite news|work=Catholic-Hierarchy.org|title=Bishop Michael Joseph Ready|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bready.html}}</ref> He then served as an assistant pastor, teacher, and director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the diocese.<ref name="diocese" /> In 1931, he was named assistant general secretary of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, becoming its general secretary in 1936.<ref name="diocese" /> The Vatican elevated Ready to the rank of monsignor in 1934.<ref name="diocese" /> During his time in Washington, Ready became friends with sports writer Bob Considine, baptizing his son in 1939.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/per_washington-post_1939-02-28_22902 |title=The Washington Post 1939-02-28: Iss 22902 |date=1939-02-28 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/sim_catholic-digest_1953-09_17_11 |title=The Catholic Digest 1953-09: Vol 17 Iss 11 |date=September 1953 |publisher=Catholic Digest |language=English}}</ref>

In 1939, Ready joined Bishops John Gannon and James Griffin in a visit to Mexico to confer with Archbishop Luis Martínez. They were discussing the founding of a seminary in Las Vegas, New Mexico, to supply priests for the Mexican Church, since seminaries were at that time illegal in that country.<ref name="mexico">{{cite news|date=1939-08-14|work=TIME Magazine|title=Prelates in Mufti|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761876,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214203101/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761876,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 14, 2008}}</ref> During the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, Ready denounced the Spanish government for its anti-clerical policies.<ref name="new">{{cite news |date=1944-11-27 |title=New Sees |work=TIME Magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,796897,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214232605/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,796897,00.html |archive-date=December 14, 2008}}</ref> In 1940, Ready expressed his opposition to military conscription in the United States, favoring volunteer recruiting<ref name="conscription">{{cite news |date=1940-08-12 |title=Conscription |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,764321-2,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102220425/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,764321-2,00.html |archive-date=November 2, 2012 |work=TIME Magazine}}</ref>

Ready delivered the benediction at the 1941 inauguration in Washington of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Later that year, he met with Roosevelt after the latter made controversial remarks regarding the status of religious freedom in the Soviet Union.<ref name="fdr">{{cite news|date=1941-10-13|work=TIME Magazine|title=God & Lend-Lease|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,766239,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122220938/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,766239,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 22, 2010}}</ref>

In 1942, after the American entry into World War II in December 1941, Ready declared that "the liberty and institutions" of the United States were threatened by the same "rampant totalitarian military forces which harass the Church and all that the Church has built," in an implicit reference to the Japanese Empire.<ref name="japan">{{cite news|date=1942-03-23|work=TIME Magazine|title=The Vatican & Japan|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,802290,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014184155/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,802290,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 14, 2010}}</ref> In 1944, Reverend Stanislaus Orlemanski visited the Soviet Union to meet Premier Joseph Stalin, who signed a document pledging support for religious freedom. Ready described the priest's trip as "a political burlesque...staged and directed by capable Soviet agents," saying, "What we need from Stalin is his declaration of full religious freedom in Russia, not his signature."<ref name="stalin">{{cite news|date=1944-05-22|work=TIME Magazine|title=Home Again, Home Again|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,796617.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102220349/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,796617.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 2, 2012}}</ref>

===Bishop of Columbus=== [[File:St. Joseph Cemetery (Lockbourne, Ohio) - Bishop Ready grave.jpg|thumb|Bishop Ready's grave, St. Joseph Cemetery, Lockbourne, Ohio (2017)|285x285px]] On November 11, 1944, Ready was appointed the fifth bishop of Columbus by Pope Pius XII.<ref name=hierarchy/> He received his episcopal consecration on December 14, 1944, from Archbishop Amleto Cicognani, with Archbishop John McNicholas and Bishop Edward Hoban serving as co-consecrators, at St. Matthew Cathedral in Washington, D.C.<ref name=hierarchy/> He was formally installed at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio, on January 4, 1945.<ref name=hierarchy/>

One of Ready's first tasks was overseeing the erection of the Diocese of Steubenville from the eastern and southeastern portions of the Diocese of Columbus, as well as the consolidation of portions of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati into Columbus.<ref name=diocese/> He established the Catholic Welfare Bureau and appointed a director of charities for the diocese.<ref name=diocese/> Ready criticized the Ohio State University board of trustees decision in 1951 that University President Howard L. Bevis had to approve all campus speakers in advance.<ref name=osu>{{cite news|date=1951-11-05|work=TIME Magazine|title=Sag Rule in Ohio|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,856967,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612093055/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,856967,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 12, 2009}}</ref> During his tenure, Ready also served as chair of the Bishops' Committee on Motion Pictures; he reported that the Hollywood studios were producing more films with "wholesome and moral qualities" in 1952.<ref name=film>{{cite news|date=1952-11-24|work=TIME Magazine|title=The Wholesome Year|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817413,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108004933/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817413,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 8, 2012}}</ref>

Ready also organized the diocesan branch of the Holy Name Society, a Parent-Teacher Organization, the Council of Catholic Women, the Catholic Youth Council, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society in the diocese.<ref name=diocese/> He created 18 new parishes and oversaw the construction of nine elementary and five high schools.<ref name=diocese/> Ready founded two nursing homes, the diocesan Child Guidance Center, and the Catholic Student Center at Ohio State University. He worked with his fellow Ohio bishops to start the Ohio Catholic Welfare Conference.<ref name=diocese/>

=== Death === Ready died in Columbus from a cerebral hemorrhage on May 2, 1957, at age 64. He was buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in Lockbourne, Ohio.<ref name="diocese" /> Bishop Ready High School in Columbus is named in his honor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catholic High School {{!}} Bishop Ready High School {{!}} Columbus |url=https://www.brhs.org/ |access-date=2025-11-11 |website=Bishop Ready HS |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box | title=Bishop of Columbus | before=James Joseph Hartley| after=Clarence George Issenmann| years=1944–1957|}} {{s-end}} {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus}} {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ready, Michael Joseph}} Category:1893 births Category:1957 deaths Category:Saint Vincent College alumni Category:St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry alumni Category:Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology alumni Category:Diocese of Cleveland Category:Religious leaders from New Haven, Connecticut Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Columbus Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:American people of Irish descent Category:People from Mansfield, Ohio Category:People from Barberton, Ohio Category:Catholics from Connecticut Category:20th-century American people